If you are a new user and have just installed xlq, you may use all the functionality of xlq2Lite for around 3 weeks without limitations and  for free.

After the trial period is over, to continue using xlq you would need to register.

xlq2 requires a valid license to run. A 3 week trial license may be requested by email.

XLQ does not provide market data but supports 3rd party services. You would need to choose the services you wish to work with, and if needed subscribe directly with them. All data processing and requests are directly between you, as end user, and the feed.

xlq2Lite supports the following services:

• AAII Stock Investor Pro - provide a vast amount of financial and fundamental data for over 7000 companies. If you are subscribed to Stock Investor Pro, in addition to working directly with it, you can also access all the data via xlq.
• CoinMarketCap - provide information on cryptocurrencies including marketcap and rank. If you are subscribed for Basic (free) or higher API access you may use this data via xlq.
• InteractiveBrokers - provide streaming real-time and historic data for the many worldwide exchanges and products they cover, including for equities, indexes, options, futures, forex. You would need an account with them. Any data for which you are subscribed for real-time data with them would also be available via xlq.
• IQFeed - provide streaming real-time (millisecond precision)  and historic data for the many exchanges and products they cover, including for equities, indexes, options, futures, forex. You would need to subscribe with them.
• Charles Schwab - provide real-time data for US equities and indexes. You would need an account with them. If you are a Schwab account holder, there are no costs or fees for using their real-time and historic data via xlq.
  Additional functionality available via xlq2
  
  For full information click here
• Tiingo - provide snapshot real-time data for US and Chinese equities and funds, as well as historic data and cryptocurrencies. You would need an account with them (free) and enter your token in xlq. Data is either free or subscription depending on your needs.
• Tradier - provide real-time data for US equities and indexes. You would need an account with them. If you are a Tradier account holder, there are no costs or fees for using their real-time and historic data via xlq.
  Additional functionality available via xlq2
  
  For full information click here
• Yahoo Finance, allowing you to work with the data they provide for download. Symbols would be the same as on their webpages, although not all symbols and data are available for download. There are no costs or fees for their service.

xlq2, in addition supports the following services:

• EOD Historical Data - provides subscription data for historic, financials, dividends, earnings, target. Data for over 60 exchanges (also options,  cryptos, forex, commodities) including bulk data and upcoming events with special pricing for xlq2 users
  
  For full information click here
• Financial Modeling Prep - provides subscription data for realtime snapshot data, historic, financials, dividends, earnings, targets and a lot more for over 50 exchanges (cryptos, forex, commodities are also available). Supports bulk requests and upcoming events. Special pricing for xlq2 users
  
  For full information click here
• Norgate Data - provides subscription based historic data for US, Canadian and Australian equities, indexes, futures and forex. Depending on your subscription may also cover delisted symbols and historic index constituents
• Stockwatch - provides subscription based historic data for US and Canadian equities, indexes and options. Downloads being per exchange per market day. At least an Intermediate subscription is required.
• XLQ2 - real-time x-minute snapshots for US equities provided free to xlq2 users from its own servers.
  Data provided by IEX Cloud: (https://iexcloud.io)

Unlike most programs that are limited by design of a pre-defined user interface, or most add-ins that are limited due to them being add-ins, xlq's core design is a data engine, running independently managing the retrieval of market data and real-time streams from the internet on one side, and on the other managing user interfaces.

This allows xlq to work simultaneously with different data sources and update multiple user interfaces efficiently with the latest data, allowing you to choose your interface and the data you wish to work with in the format you want. The most common interfaces are Microsoft Excel, xlqCompanion and xlq's COM interface.

Whenever a data request is made from any interface (such as excel or xlqCompanion) it will automatically start the xlq data engine, and close it on exit. But it is also possible to start and use the engine independently (from windows start). If xlq is already running, any request from excel (etc.) will connect with the already running xlq and not start a new one, in which case you cannot close xlq until all connections are closed.

When the xlq data engine is running a Q is shown in the task bar next to the windows date / time. If it is not visible you should click the ^ arrow to see hidden icons (left of Q in image) and drag it to the task bar. The Q, which is usually green (xlq2), or orange (xlq2Lite), will change color depending on its status, e.g. when the center is red, historic data is being requested or calculated, when the Q is yellow there is a problem with a data connection.

You may also hover the mouse over the Q for quick information on the status, for example to know how many symbols still need updating, and if you right click the Q, a menu is shown allowing giving access to all kinds of features from managing symbols, viewing data, setting preferences and seeing in-depth status views. it is also here, via About, that you enter your registration code.

You should familiarize yourself with features from the Q menu as it usually allows you to quickly solve any problems, with help from messages in the status view, or viewing the underlying data being used in formulae, calculations etc. and via the stock manager allowing you to see all symbols being used per source, their status, update information etc. You may also delete symbols to have the data be re-requested etc. For more detailed information you can consult the help file - also accessible from the Q menu.

Using xlq with excel has virtually no limits in terms of performing market research, custom analysis, creating portfolio management with the details and layout exactly as you want. It provides you complete control of your user interface and access to full use of all the features of Microsoft Excel including charting.

If you are familiar with excel and have worked with imported and pasted data, or dde / rtd, the advantages of xlq are quickly seen as replacing that data with xlq formulae means the analysis you have set up is always up to date, changes as the market changes, and research you have prepared for one symbol can be used for another by simply changing the symbol and leaving xlq to redisplay all the results.

As xlq formulae work like any other excel formula you can combine them, using xlq formulae within excel formulae, or xlq formulae within excel formulae, within VBA or reference them like any other.

You may design your layout cell by cell but make full use of copy / pasting, dragging and excel relative and absolute cell referencing. You may use xlq simultaneously in multiple workbooks, multiple instances of excel even multiple versions of excel with all sharing the same data.

As xlq is digitally signed, allowing you to work with heightened security and all connecting automatic, using xlq with Excel is actually quite simple, i.e. you can start by typing something simple like =xlqPrice("msft") into a cell and pressing enter

You can also open xlqDemo.xlsx included with the install for examples on using xlq and a list of all formulae. Many use this as the basis for their first workbook. For more formulae and examples see xlq2Demo.xlsx.

Whether you are an experienced excel user or just starting out you will find that xlq will help you learn excel or improve on your skills as you learn there is always something more you can do with it.

Other than entering some xlq formulae into your existing workbooks, or playing with xlqDemo, you should also consult the Formulae pages from the site's Resource menu and look at xlq's help file for more info

xlqCompanion is included with an xlq2Lite/xlq2 license. It is a standalone program, which like Excel can connect with the xlq data engine to work with the data.

Unlike excel which allows you to create your interface as you wish cell by cell, xlqCompanion is row / column based, allowing you to enter a symbol, and choose the columns you wish to work with.

This allows for quick and simple portfolio managements, for tracking trailing stops, or just simple keeping 'watch lists'.

In addition to being row /column based it is also possible to create multiple tabs (like worksheets) or multiple files (like separate workbooks).

To use xlqCompanion, launch it from Windows Start, and open your data file, or enter a symbol to start a new one.

You may enter the data directly in the grid, or in the fields view. Along with symbol and source you may also enter purchase and sell information. All trailing stop and gain/loss information will automatically be updated with the Summary view providing totals per portfolio.

Some first time users are surprised to see the trailing stop as a negative value as they expect to see a dollar value being the price they should sell at. xlqCompanion displays the real trailing stop, i.e. the % off the highest close since date of purchase. Calculated on last close or latest price depending on your preference

For example if the highest close since purchasing is $20, and the current price is $18 the trailing stop will be -10%
i.e. (last price – highest close) / highest close * 100
or (18 – 20) / 20 * 100 = -10

This tells you that the current price is 10% off its highest close. And if the value was -25, an alert would be shown as the default trailing stop alert in the program is 25%, but may be changed per row.

For additional information you should consult the help file, available from within xlqCompanion.

xlq also includes a COM (Component Object Model) interface allowing you to also work with xlq and all the data programmatically via any program or programming language supporting COM.

This allows you to connect with xlq (starting it if needed) and via requests obtain data for any formula passing parameters such as symbol, source etc.

It is assumed, if you wish to use xlq this way, that you are already familiar with COM.

To get started, you should consult the xlq help file, which explains the interface, the requests, required parameters etc. along with different examples from different languages / programs.